Hard Lines goes free for a day on iOS as Spilt Milk Studios partners up with OpenFeint

The last time Spilt Milk Studios' Hard Lines went free for a day on the App Store, downloads jumped 64,500 percent.

Long term, however, the move had little impact, with downloads dropping down almost as soon as the game's fee rose back up.

The developer hasn't been put off such promo efforts, however.

Coupled with a major update – which brings in-app purchases into play for the first time – Spilt Milk has decided to pair up with OpenFeint, dropping Hard Line's RRP for a second time as part of the firm's Free App of the Day platform.

Paying the price

It's a move MD Andrew Smith is hoping will pay off this time, with the additional promo provided by OpenFeint giving the game the kind of tail the studio missed out on first time around.

"The last time we went free, we saw a huge amount of downloads over three or four days, and essentially quadrupled our playing audience over three days," says Smith.

"A lot of those players are still with us, but regretfully we saw very little conversion from the free boost into paying consumers.

"As soon as we switched back to paid, our daily downloads went back to normal."

This time, adds Smith, Spilt Milk is looking to the professionals, rather than going free almost on a whim.

"OpenFeint as a company is more interested in the games it promotes being a longer term success as obviously it helps spread their product too.

"Not only that, but our recent update features in-app purchases so even the people who download the game for free will be able to spend money on it – if they choose to.

"I have no idea if this will see better income over the promotion and beyond than we're used to. Only time will tell."

Hard Lines will be free for an undetermined amount of time.